laceblade | Entries tagged with religion

• What are you currently reading?
The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson - I'm reading this for

beer_marmalade & also because lots of my friends have been talking it up.
I'm not really a huge fan, I guess. This seems to be a book where the worldbuilding is way better than the writing. Unlike many sf/f fans, I don't really give a fuck about worldbuilding, so that on its own is not enough for me.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer - It's been a long-ass time since I've read non-fiction. I saw this in a used bookstore & then checked it out from the library.
This book is about two fundamentalist Mormons who murdered their sister-in-law & her infant daughter in the 1980s. It's about the polygamist fundamentalist sect of Mormonism. It's also about the history of mainstream Mormonism & the violence that's always been a part of it.
Growing up, one of my best friends 5th through 10th grade was Mormon, & was one of the guy friends in our friend-group. So I've been interested in Mormonism for a while & am pretty familiar with its sanitized history.
This book presents a lot of events I was not previously aware of, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
In addition to pointing out how young & coerced a lot of people's plural wives have been - from Joseph Smith's to those living in these communities today - the book also focuses on the nature of belief, in people truly believing/knowing they are communicating with God & fulfilling his commands - even when they seem absurd to regular people (i.e., killing your infant niece).
Sometimes grotesque but also fascinating.
I'm sure millions of people feel the same way about Catholicism. Like, I still find the whole "golden plates" premise & Joseph Smith himself absurd, but I'm sure many feel the same way about transubstantiation.
Anyway, I feel like I'm not doing a great job with this review, but I loved this book & might look into reading more by Krakauer.

Shugo Chara! vols. 5-6 - Currently filing this under "okay but not great."
I love Amu's wardrobe (she is the protagonist). The premise of this series is that she feels like she can't be her "true self." She has mini-characters who hatch from eggs & can transform her into truer versions of herself (via henshin).
She hangs out with other members of her school who have this ability, too.
Amu gets a fourth egg with an X on it, which is later revealed to be a diamond. It doesn't reveal an aspect of Amu's true self right away because she's "down."
During the triumphant scene in which this x-egg finally changes into Diamond, Amu says, "I do feel frustrated. There's no one who would feel happy when they lose. Of course I'll feel frustrated if I lose. But losing...getting hurting is not the end of it. If I have the will to try harder the next time...I'll get stronger when I get hurt. People who know loss should be able to shine, too. I still don't know what the real me is like. I might be someone who is wishy-washy. But...I believe in it. I believe in the sparkles inside of me."
MAHOU SHOUJO MANGA, HOW YOU SPEAK TO ME WITH YOUR NONSENSICAL PEP TALKS. That's what I'm here for, & that's what I got :D

Basara vols. 2-6 - I am still SO PLEASED with this series, omg it just fantastic.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
More Basara, more Shugo Chara, & more of the other manga I've got checked out from the library ^_^
It'd be nice to read more non-fiction, too.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/657003.html

In the car on the way to the new Pirates movie, I am explaining what WisCon programming is like to childhood friends, who probably understand me, my interests, and my faith better than most people.

"So like....everyone who comes enjoys science fiction, that's a given. But then on panels, we dissect the things we love. You talk about your favorite book or your favorite show, but you try to examine how it could be better. Like you talk about a sci-fi TV show, and how there aren't any people of color in it. Or how there are people of color, but their storylines are always sidelined for the white people's. And people debate these things! But mostly it's caring really deeply about social justice but also this thing you love, and trying to reconcile it and talk about how to make it better."

"So it's like religion."

".....YES. Holy shit, YES."

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/512721.html

Elsewhere on the Internet, ~~in a post that is unfortunately locked,~~ various things have been purported. The post is here, now unlocked.

I am sick to death of motherfuckers telling me that entire aspects of my identity do not exist because of the labels they ascribe to me.
Because I am Catholic, there is no way that I could hate my bishop, want women to be priests, or be adamantly supportive of the separation of church and state.
Because I am religious, I must have never given any serious thought to politics (even in spite of my major in Political Science), why rituals are performed, or what the Bible actually says. Clearly, I am a sheep - right?
Because I spent two summers working as an unpaid intern for a Republican, there is no way that I could be a Democrat (at least, not according to nearly every Democratic office in the Wisconsin State Legislature).
Because I am a 24-year-old woman, I must want to get married as soon as possible.
Because I am pro-life, I must not be a feminist.

Extremism in any form is dangerous. And taking away someone's ability to construct their own identity is harmful - even moreso when we are all potential allies.

We are all angry about something. What I'm angry about is everyone buying into the soundbytes created from false dichotomies that assure us that our goals are not common, that our enemies are each other. And that we must stay busy fighting one another, so that we are incapable of waking up, banding together, and doing something.

In the end, I think that everyone wants to make the world less fucked up than it is now.

The way to start is to think, to dialogue, and most importantly, to challenge people around you every day to analyze and deconstruct their own lives.

And to stop acting like jackasses.

I think that former members of my high school Youth Liturgy team will appreciate this story.

I'm a member of the liturgy team that meets once a week at the ungodly hour of 7am. This week, as a sort of ice-breaker, we went around the circle sharing our favorite liturgical moment. One said, getting his marriage blessed by the Pope. Someone else said watching people get full-submersion baptism on Easter.

And then it was my turn.

"Hmmm, it's hard to choose.....I guess my favorite would be Pentecost that one year, when we set the baptismal font on fire."

I should blog, in order to prove to the Internet that I do other things than just watch anime.

However, by the time I have enough spare moment to get a blog entry together in the evening, I have reached the point in the day when my bitterness threatens to poison my words and thoughts, and convince me that things are much worses than they truly are. My time is consumed by work, class, homework, and barely having time for life-things like groceries and shopping. Although I am still afraid of graduation, I can feel my insecurities slipping away as my resolve hardens and I realize that this isn't going to be bad at all. What the hell am I so afraid of? Life? I can totally do this. I am hopeful that this will force me to kick myself into higher gear.

Ash Wednesday
Speaking of having a full life, though, tomorrow I'm going to be gone from 6:30am until after 9pm. The only time I'm going to have to go to an Ash Wednesday service will be at 8:00am, which means that I have to walk around with ashes on my forehead all day. I never understand why the Ash Wednesday reading always has Jesus telling people not to make a big deal about it publicly when they pray, etc. And then we all get marked and leave it on all day. I might wash it off when I go to work, but I'm not sure yet. I'm not a fan of mixing government and state, but this is more like....practicing my own religion and not pressing it on others, right?

Speaking of Ash Wednesday....I have no idea what to give up for Lent. Did I even do anything last year? I suck at being Catholic.

Politics and the Ideal
I spent my evening watching the election results with Antoine and Chad. My favorite TV show of all time is The West Wing, although I haven't watched it in quite some time (I really should). Chad sent me a link to a clip of the show tonight, and I find it pretty fitting after watching Mike Huckabee talk to ABC's Charlie Gibson about his good fortune tonight. Gibson asked Huckabee why he had invoked references to the Bible in his campaign thank-you speech. Huckabee told Gibson that "Bible" was not a second language to him, but a mother tongue. Blah, blah, your mom.

It's no secret that I consider myself a religious person. But I've never understood people tendency to mix religion with government. We either live in a free nation, or we do not. Separation of church and state aside, it's always bothered me that by layering on all kinds of archaic rules, people tend to miss the whole point of Christianity.

OMG BUFFY/ANGEL
WHY DOES NO ONE TELL ME THESE THINGS!? The actress who played Willow on Buffy is married to the actor who played Wesley. OMGWTF.

AND, Christian Kane (Lindsey in Angel) is best friends with David Boreanaz (Angel) in real life. THAT IS SO CUTE. OMG!!

( SPOILERS )

I feel like most of this post will not be helpful to my friends who are avid readers, especially of the fantasy genre. But I do have friends who don't read much fantasy, and haven't read The Golden Compass, so I'm imagining it will be more helpful to people who read my blog, as opposed to LJ friends.

No, I haven't seen the movie yet. (And, I am afraid for when I do, as a couple of my friends who are fans of the books have posted in their LiveJournals that they didn't like it, :( )

I've been exchanging a couple of messages with a friend from middle/high school via Facebook, after she joined one of the many "Boycott the Golden Compass movie" groups.

For the life of me, I simply cannot understand the line of logic that would lead a person to boycott the movie.

Yes, in the plot of this fictional story, the goal is to kill God (aka, The Authority). And, all over, the message from people is, "OMG! These movies/books will teach our children to be atheists!"

(PS: The Golden Compass was originally published over 10 years ago, and I don't recall any similar outcry. This furthers my belief that fundamentalists who enjoy boycotting things DO NOT READ.)

I don't think so. At least, I grew up with The Golden Compass being one of my favorite books (and it still is), and I am still a Christian. I am even still Catholic, despite the book's portrayal of "the Church." Like the Harry Potter series, I think that the books do an excellent job of teaching children that it is okay, and even honorable, to question authority.

But this all beside my point. So, the books are supposedly anti-Christian because of a corrupt Church, and a plot that revolves around killing God.

Has anyone ever read Paradise Lost, by John Milton, on which the books are based? (Even taking the title of the trilogy, "His Dark Materials," from a line in Milton's work. In Paradise Lost, Satan is a protagonist! Oh no! Think of the children! Think of all the students who are forced to read Paradise Lost in university! They will all instantly become atheists, due to a sympathetic portrayal of Lucifer!

But where could the plot of Paradise Lost possibly have come from, this blasphemous work that has influenced The Golden Compass and its sequels? Where else could one find such a story of a character rebelling against God? Wait, that sounds familiar - the Bible! What a horrible thing for a book to teach our children! Our mindless, influential children, who will believe and emulate every story they ever read! Let us boycott the Bible without reading it in its entirety! Let us call upon others to do the same!

Seriously. In general, I have always failed to understand why people would boycott books like To Kill a Mockingbird or Harry Potter because of their subject matter (or for any other reason). But I guess I just feel like the controversy surrounding this movie (and, only now, the books) is beyond idiotic.

I've already heard from friends who didn't like the movie. Here are my hopes for the movie:

The armored bears will be called by their proper name, panserbjørne
Lyra will remain a quick-witted and contrary 11-year-old girl
Lord Asriel will be really hot
the daemons will be well-done, specifically Pantalaimon
the panserbjørne will kick ass (not worried about this one in the slightest)
Lyra's world is still late-Victorian-esque (judging by the costumes in promotional pieces, it is)
Dust will still be important, and referred to

I know, I sucked at blogging this week. Mostly, it's because I have been experiencing a constant state of nausea since last week Friday. All day, every day, no other symptoms. And no, readers, I am not pregnant (my co-workers, sister, and brother-in-law have already been sure to ask me). Yes, I am sure. Not that it's anyone's business, but unless I'm carrying the Second Coming of Christ in my womb, I am not pregnant.
Just feeling about to throw up, all the time. Antoine has convinced me to call UHS tomorrow, though, and at least talk with the people over the phone.

Speaking of this sickness and the "pregnancy" people thought I had - they referred to it as a possible "immaculate conception." NOES. It is a common misconception (bwah, a pun!), but the immaculate conception does NOT refer to the virgin birth of Jesus. Immaculate Conception refers to the idea that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without Original Sin (according to Catholic theology). The idea of Jesus being born from a virgin is simply referred to as a virgin birth, so far as I know. So! Be aware!

This Thursday was similar to the last few Thursdays in that after work, I went out with co-workers for drinks. I still like beer, and also like margaritas, although I'm pretty much drunk after 1.5 of them. I haven't sampled much else in the way of alcohol, although I tasted gin, and it was a magical experience. Must try it again. My friends assure me that alcohol is a magical world, and any time I am unsure, I should just drink more. Luckily, thus far I've managed to not drink to excess, and have had generally pleasant experiences.

I need to read more. I have all of these books that I want to get through this summer. It's turning out to be a pretty excellent summer thus far. I'm excited for next Tuesday - the Senate will take up the budget in session. Nobody leaves until the budget is done. Last time, two years ago, they were in there for 23 hours. I am bringing a 12-pack of Diet Mountain Dew, a toothbrush, and a change of clothes, and am hoping for the best. Most of my co-workers are apprehensive, but my mentality is very much OMG SLEEPOVER IN THE CAPITOL! Except, you know, no sleeping and I intend to go to work the next morning (I could definitely not go in and my boss wouldn't care....BUT I LIKE MONEY).

Antoine missed the 6:00 bus from work today, so I drove out to Verona to get him (yes, I am tooting my own horn; I am a nice girlfriend!). In doing so, I got to drive through hills and farmland and greenery. I guess that I don't think about it too much, but I spend a ton of time in the city now, and I really miss being so close to countryside. My parents are Up North this weekend, and I wish that I could be with them. Being Up North probably contained some of the best memories of childhood - going out for the most excellent meals with my parents and other relatives, swimming in the lake, walking in the woods, the drive up there through woods and stops at antique stores, and lounging in hammocks, the pontoon boat, couches, and beds reading through the stacks of books Mom and I had hoarded from the library. I need to start planning my life a bit more in advance than I already do, and maybe I can make it up there more than once this summer. That would be awesome.

Current Music: 3am - Matchbox Twenty

You may or may not be wondering what books I decided to mooch after seeking your advice. It turns out that I spurned you all! I went for the Star Wars manga instead. Manga is more expensive, even when used, and more difficult to find at both bookstores and libraries.

As for my computer, my boyfriend Antoine told me to download the free anti-virus program avast! and I did. It took a while to do its huge scan-thing, but now my computer seems fine again. Apparently, it caught 75 corrupted files that Symantec Antivirus and Spy-Bot could not. Ridiculous.

I'm still at my parents' house for the weekend, which has been very peaceful. My sister has her parents-in-law staying over, so at nights I don't even hang out there - I've just come home and worked on homework, watching anime, and reading. It's a nice break from everything before I go back to school for three more weeks of hell before summer.

My purpose in coming home was to attend a family gathering at my sister's house, celebrating my niece Amelia's fourth birthday, my niece Olivia's First Communion, and my cousin Sami's Confirmation. Going to church for Olivia's First Communion was so nice. I've felt so disconnected from my faith lately, and have felt bad about it. It's part of me and I need it in my life, but I haven't yet found a way to feel okay about it at Madison yet. While I sat in the pew with my family during the mass at which Olivia made her First Communion, I looked up and saw Carrie, one of the most amazing people I've ever met and so very much a part of what my faith was in high school, and Alex, my good friend Jennifer's younger brother and a member of a youth liturgical planning group we had formed at the church when I was a freshman to create "youth masses." Sitting by them made Nativity feel like home again. I hope that this summer, when Madison is much more quiet and I have no stress of homework, I can find a parish, or find my place in a parish I've already attended. This feeling of peace and strength is part of who I am, and I can't keep losing it.

My thoughts on Spring 2007 anime thus far
Or, at least, what I've been able to watch. So far, I've been using anime as a reward for working on my mountains of readings or preliminary paper-writing work. So, I'm behind on most series and still haven't watched all of the ones I want to sample (not even Victorian Romance Emma, season 2!).

Romeo x Juliet, ep. 3
I wrote so much about this episode that I gave it its own LiveJournal post, complete with screencaps. Enjoy! Link is here.

Bokura no anime, ep. 1
This series looks pretty meh. 15 kids at a summer camp randomly walk into a cave and discover a man and his computer (which get plugged into what, boulders?) network. The man promises a "game" which needs beta testing, and each kid, minus the fourth-grader (the rest are seventh-graders) touches a metal panel to seal a contract. They then watch the creepy older man fight a mecha robot with his own mecha robot. What the mecha robots are doing is unexplained. I found the premise pretty unbelievable. Additionally, the characters seem very one-dimensional. Each one has one defining personality characteristic.
After the creepy guy battled the other mecha robot, he disappeared. My prediction is that each episode will focus on one character, and come down to a will-they-won't-they-fight psychological stuff. I'll try one more episode to see if the premise gets a little more believable, but for now I'm not a huge fan.

My friend Louise has a detailed post with lots of thumbnail screenshots here. It also appears as though she enjoyed the episode much more than I did, so you gain another perspective there.

Claymore anime, through ep. 2
The main character is a half-demon, and her job is to slay demons, being employed by a faceless organization that "creates" Claymores, females who become half-demon and fight demons so long as they control their sanity (at which point they have to be killed). The stories in the first two episodes were pretty not-surprising nor imaginative. It seems like a pretty common fantasy story, actually. A young boy follows her from the first episode and becomes her cook. Clare tries to remain emotionless and detached from him. She kills demons in various towns. Yawn. Which is a shame, because the animation quality is pretty nice. I'll try to keep an eye on what other anime bloggers have to say about future episodes, in case it starts to look interesting, but I'll stop watching for now.

I really don't understand the hype surrounding Barack Obama. I mean, he seems pretty cool. But, the man gave one good speech at the Democratic National Convention, and it hasn't really done much since then (aside from almost completing his....first term as a senator! The guy has no experience! I don't know. We'll see what happens. The 2008 election will be interesting, if nothing else.

Also, someone has created a very amusing Christmas greeting about the origin of Santa Claus, and setting it to the music and (altered) text of the opening of Battlestar Galactica. It is here, and you should watch it even if you don't watch BSG, because it is amusing.

Anyway, I should go. Mom becomes upset if I sit down for more than 5 minutes, and wants me to do things like fold stray blankets. Also, Dad is making me vacuum the stairs! OMF, Christmas Eve at our house! I should probably shower before we go to mass at 4:00 pm. EVEN THOUGH Catholics are supposed to go to church twice this weekend - once for the 4th week of Advent (you should've gone yesterday afternoon or this morning) and then again for Christmas (tomorrow/tonight), I'm only going once. But, can I say that sleeping in today for the first time in a very, very long time was SO nice? Because it was. I really hope that Jesus understands. If I had had another 'first day all semester to sleep in,' then I would have gone twice.

So, after venting about Academic Angst this morning, and then finishing a paper for 5:00, I need to destress a little bit before hanging out with some friends tonight. And I do need to utilize this LJ more. So let's start with random things.

Firstly, here's a meme I found from

moonygirl_13 It is the "Wikipedia Birthday meme." Go to Wikipedia. Type in your birth date (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
EVENTS (3....I have way more than 3 - there were so many good ones!)
1535 - French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America with three ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier kidnapped during his first voyage).
1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery.
1568 - Queen Elizabeth I of England has Mary Queen of Scots arrested.
1780 - Never-explained complete darkness falls on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 2 pm. (WTF?!)
1848 - Mexican-American War: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo – Mexico ratifies the treaty thus ending the war and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of five other modern-day U.S. states to the USA for USD $15 million.
1943 - World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set Monday, May 1, 1944 as the date for the cross-English Channel landing (D-Day would later be delayed over a month due to bad weather).
1962 - A birthday salute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy takes place at Madison Square Garden, New York. The highlight is Marilyn Monroe's infamous rendition of Happy Birthday.
1999 - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is released. (My friends and I attend at the theater on opening day. Julie is 9 months pregnant with Olivia, lol)
2005 - Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is released, and sets the new one-day box office record.

BIRTHS (2)
1925 - Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
1944 - Peter Mayhew, British actor (Chewbacca!)

DEATHS (1....OR 3!)
1795 - Josiah Bartlett, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (b. 1729) (OMG, LIKE THE FAKE ANCESTOR OF JED BARTLET ON WEST WING!)
1971 - Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
1994 - Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, First Lady of the United States (b. 1929) (I had to include her because, according to my mother, she is my namesake)

That was a very cool meme. Go my birthday!

I'm not sure what to think of the whole Jesus-asked-Judas-to-betray-him thing. I mean....the way I learned it from Manny at the Bible study we had in high school was that the Jews of the time of Jesus were expecting this huge revolt against the government to liberate the Jews, and when Jesus never did that, Judas thought that by turning him over to the authorties, Jesus would be galvanized into action. And when that didn't happen, he realized what he had done, and hung himself.
So.....if Jesus DID ask Judas to betray him, why would Judas hang himself?

There is a meme going around. It sounds like interesting, so I'll do it. It might take me a while to respond to you all, but I will. Give me up to 3 things you would like me to take a picture of, and... I will. and then I will post them all here. DO IT. Inappropriate inqueries will be ignored. NOES.

On the Battlestar Galactica front....Livewireless is the BEST FANDOM COMMUNITY EVER. Even if only for looking at the user names - for example, Cally's is "lovemebeatme." Basically, the posts are supposed to be wireless transmissions made after the end of Season 2. Various characters respond. Hilarity ensues. BSG fans will enjoy.

MOST RANDOM POST EVER. YOU KNOW YOU LOVED IT.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Third Eye Blind